


Stand Still Stay Silent: Adventure I

by orphan_account



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 22:37:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20897261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This is the same as the webcomic, except I’ve typed it into prose! Note: I only have the first few pages, this is really a placeholder before I forget. Happy reading!





	Stand Still Stay Silent: Adventure I

Dalsnes, Norway

Year 0, Day 0

Dalsnes: a small Norwegian town nestled at the foot of three stony mountains and rapidly filling with water.

"Sooo... apparently the road is going to stay closed for a while."

A coffeehouse sits on the edge of the water, watching the dock slowly disappear.

"They won't even try fixing it until the rain stops."

Another voice this time: "Ah. So never."

"Don't be a grump! It'll stop raining in a few days." A pause, the crinkle of pages. "No, sorry, I remembered wrong. It'll start raining _even more_ in a few days."

A woman with short light brown hair slumps against the window. "They should just pave it already..."

The man holding the newspaper looks up, startled. "What?! No! I don't want to pay taxes for that!"

Someone approaches, filling the fourth and last seat. "Oh, _good_, are we complaining about the road again?" She holds a steaming cup of coffee on a small saucer

The newspaper crinkles again. "I say screw roads! Let's let it wash away once and for all, and start relying on boat traffic!"

"Like we're doing now." This is Ingrid Pedersen, a low effort hippie. She has blonde hair, and it streams down her back in thin waves.

A tall, stocky man rises from his table across the room. "Alright, I'm heading out. You need anything from the city?"

"Be a dear and grab a carton of today's paper."

"This isn't today's paper?"

A redheaded man at the table sits up straight. "Speak for yourself! I have things I need to go get!"

"Like what?" she says, lifting her head from the window.

"Like," the redhead says, wiping away a tear. "My poor grandmother!" This is Aksel Eide, a very good grandson. His hair reaches well past his ears.

"She's all all alone and scared in her tiny apartment in the big scary city! She could hurt herself and no one would come to help her! And what if she gets sick?" He calls up a mental image of his grandmother:

_'Oh, poor me! All alone in the big, scary city! Even my own grandson has abandoned me! Also, my cat is the Devil.'_

"She never goes to the hospital for any reason unless I force her to, because she thinks they'll give her cancer."

The short haired woman looks at him with mock concern. "Well, don't bring her here, we have enough crazy old people as it is." This is Sigrun Larsen. Some would describe her as 'kind of an ass'.

"I can't! Because the idiots won't fix the damn road!" Aksel buries his head in his hands and leans his chair back.

"I'm sure she'll be fine on her own," says Sigrun, in a rather patronizing way.

"Don't _say_ that!" Aksel moans, burying his head in his hands. "What if she gets the rash illness?"

"Then she'll be bedridden for a week."

Ingrid rests her head on her hand. "Hmmm. A lonely, elderly person, who is afraid hospitals, bedridden for a week... doesn't sound too great."

"And she's _old_," interjects the newspaper man.

Pouting a little, Aksel's face turns sour. "_Thank you_ for your input, now I know." His voice drips with sarcasm.

"Wait, I had a point!" This is Gøran Andersen. He thinks his beard is awesome. "Right here," he says, holding up the newspaper. "_Old people_ and young children might be at risk of serious health issues if they get the rash illness, so they _should_ go to the hospital." He jabs his finger at an image of a pregnant woman. "And fat people, apparently?"

Aksel slams his head onto the table and wails.

"_And_ they think it's very likely that it'll spread to Norway within the next few weeks. You better go get granny!"

Ingrid pats his head. "Don't cry! I know what you can do: ask Gunnar to bring her here on his boat!"

"_Whooops_, too late." Sigrun gestures lazily out the window. "He left." 

True to her word, Gunnar is striding down the dock whistling a merry tune.

"Unless you want to run out and—" The door slams shut, a little bell announcing Aksel's exit. "Oh, okay."

Aksel holds his umbrella with his teeth, skidding across the rain-slicked dock. When he tries to open his umbrella, a sudden gust of whips it away, mangling the wires beyond repair.

"GUNNAAR!"

"Oh, hey," says Gunnar. "Did you want something from Bergen too?" His calm demeanor is a wild contrast to Aksel's frantic scrambling.

"Yes!" He jabs his finger at Gunnar. "One grandmother, please!"

"Uh..." Gunnar loses track of his words, momentarily distracted by Aksel using his shoulders to regain his balance. "I was going to get things like fruit and booze and stuff, not... grandmothers."

Naturally, Aksel disregards every word Gunnar has just said. "Great! I'll call her and tell her to meet you at the harbor!" 

"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Aksel continues to jabber on above him, oblivious to Gunnar's response.

Aksel is (somehow) grinning even wider. "You're the best!"

"Hey!" Gunnar calls, to his partner and co-owner of the boat. "Do we have room for an old lady on the way back?"

"And a cat, probably," adds Aksel.

"Hrmmm—hmm... " Gunnar's partner waits for a long time, enjoying the suspense. "...fine. Maybe she'll fit in some corner. But don't blame me if she slips and falls into the sea!" He sighs. "Alright. One grandma and one cat. Does she know what the boat looks like?"

"She does!" replies Aksel excitedly. "She thinks it's ugly."

"Well... _hrmph!_ Tell her to be at the harbour at six, no later!"

Aksel almost leaps for joy. "I will! You're a beautiful human being and I love you!"

"You're welcome."

The snap of a phone being whipped open comes, then Aksel shoving it to his ear.

_"Hellooo?"_

"Hiii grandma! It's me! Your favourite grandson!

"I sent a guy to come bring you here! You remember Gunnar?" He shifts the phone so his hood covers it.

_"What nonsense have you cooked up now, puppy?"_

"If you come here I'll be able to look after you properly!"

His grandmother laughs. _"I don't need to be looked after, you silly birdie!"_

"But—ah—" He tries to think of anything bad that could happen. "What if... you fall down?"

_"I'll get up and make myself some coffee."_

"What if you can't get up, then what?" He begins to pace the length of the dock, watching Gunnar's boat creep away. "Oh please-please-please let me look after you! Please?"

_"Hrrmmrhrmm..."_ —A very long pause—_"...fine."_

"Yes!" Aksel shouts, leaping into the air and dancing a little jig. "Be at the harbour at six. Gunnar's boat is the ugly one."

_"Then you'll see that I don't need any help! (And Gunnar's boat isn't ugly.)"_ His grandmother sighs. _"You worry too much."_

"Pff, okay," Aksel says, even after she hangs up. He relaxes, gazing into the fog where the boat disappeared not so long ago.

Then, his internal monologue is interrupted quite violently by an enormous wave crashing over the dock.

"Bwahahaah!" Inside the coffeehouse, Sigrun nearly chokes on her coffee. "Guys, look! Look!" She gestures at the red raincoat clinging to the dock, barely able to speak from laughter. "Guys, you missed it!"

"Did you even read this whole thing?" Ingrid asks Gøran, ignoring Sigrun

"Umm, no? I just skimmed it. I only wanted the crosswords anyway."

Ingrid lays the article over Gøran's crossword,resting her finger on the title. "The Icelandic government is planning to completely shut down their borders for the whole month."

"That seems... a tiny bit crazy," Gøran remarks. " Are they angry at something?"

"It's for financial reasons. They think the risk of having most of the workforce sick at home for even a couple of weeks will cost them more than a short period of isolation."

Sigrun leans back in her chair, tired of Ingrid and Gøran's politics. "It's raining a lot, huh?" she asks Aksel, thankful for the distraction.

"Ahah, yeah! Raining, yes," he says, a bit dreamily. "It's like taking a bath out there. But it was just rain, nothing more than that."

**Author's Note:**

> *Sigh* I mixed up my time zones again... On Tuesday afternoons eastern time, and Fridays and Saturdays is when this will update at the minimum.


End file.
